Electroluminescent dial clock and night light



Sept. 20, 19 J. G. MOSOVSKY ELECTROLUMINESCENT DIAL CLOCK AND NIGHT LIGHT Filed Aug. 13, 1965 United States Patent M 3,273,331 ELECTROLUMINESCENT DIAL CLOCK AND NHGHT LIGHT Joseph G. Mosovsky, 249 E. 2nd St., New York, N.Y. Filed Aug. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 479,479 11 Claims. (CI. 58-50) The invention relates to illuminated clocks, and more particularly to the illumination of the dial of a clock and the disposition of its associated parts so that the dial is readily accessible.

The present invention contemplates utilizing an electroluminescent cell which serves as a night light and to illuminate the dial of a clock.

Briefly stated, the novelty of the invention resides in a two sect-ion clock case latched together at its top by a novel fastener and further secured near the base by a screw; inside of the clock case is an electroluminescent cell which serves as the clock dial illuminating means whereby, opaque time markers and clock hands are disposed so as to be viewed against its background light as legibly at night as in the daytime.

Dividing the clock case into two sections provides easy access to the clock parts, in the event the clock needs servicing, it is merely necessary to remove the screw and unlatch the fastener which will allow the cover to be separated, thereby uncovering a substantial area of the housing to reveal the parts, especially relating to the replacement of the electroluminescent cell for which a novel holder is provided.

The electroluminescent cell is disposed coaxially on the minute and hour arbors between the clock hands and a set-back clock mechanism which will permit the electroluminescent cell to tilt back, and is firmly seated in the holder, against resilient electrical contact prongs. To obviate the need of removing the clock hands, upon insertion or removal of the electroluminescent cell, a central opening is provided in the electroluminescent cell sufficiently large to permit it to be passed over the top of the clock hands, which are brought to 12 oclock position, and be slipped under the heels of the clock hands.

The novel feature of the holder is that when the cover of the clock case is separated from the housing the fastener also releases the electroluminescent cell from the holder allowing the top of the cell to be tilted backwards so that it can pass from beneath the heels of the clock hands through the central opening permitting the face of the electroluminescent cell to lie in a horizontal plane to be lifted over the top of the clock hands.

No particular reference is directed to the electroluminescent cell, it is desired to utilize one of the many forms of electroluminescent cells described in the various technical trade journals pertaining to such art, which are composed of phosphor positioned between two conducting surfaces, one of which is transparent, and when an alternating current is connected to the conducting surfaces it is activated to glow.

However, it is well known in the art that a durable clock would outlast the life of present electroluminescent cells, that, though they are lasting from their structural point, they do lose their brightness in time and since they are not as easy to replace as an ordinary bulb, to avoid costly servicing a simple replacement means must be provided. a

It is therefore an important object of this invention to provide a clock with an electroluminescent night light and silhouetted against its background light are easily viewed opaque time markers and clock hands.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clock with a means of removing the electroluminescent cell simply by opening the cover part of the clock case and 3,273,331 Patented Sept. 20, 1966 inserting a replacement without disturbing any of the electrical or mechanical parts.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a clock with such parts so that upon replacing the electroluminescent cell as much of the standard parts may remain as possible.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become apparent in view of the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the clock;

FIGURE 2 is a central vertical sectional view thereof taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a partial horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an oblique view of the clock with the cover removed, a part broken away, and shown with the clock hands brought together at 12 oclock position, the electroluminescent cell positioned horizontally, being midway in the process of removal or insertion.

FIGURE 5 is an oblique view of the complete clock, crystal removed and parts of the cover broken away, the electroluminescent cell in normal viewing position.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective rear view of a modified electroluminescent cell, partly in section an upper quarter part removed, having a central opening in which is affixed a grommet having electrical contact with the phosphor surface and from which a prong extends rearwardly.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective front view of another modified electroluminescent cell, partly in section an upper quarter part removed, the central opening being vertically elongated, and having opaque time markers disposed on the surface of the cell.

Referring to the drawings in detail (1 to 5 inclusive), the embodiment shows one form of the invention, a novel two section clock case comprising a rear housing section generally indicated at 6, and a forward cover section generally indicated at 7, to be referred to subsequently in the text and claims as a housing 6 and a cover 7.

The housing 6, as here shown, comprises a rectangular base 6a, a forwardly inclined rear wall 6b, and side walls 60 and 6d spanned at their top ends 'by an arcuate roof member 6c; the housing 6 being unitary of some form of moulded insulating material, sets on a pair of runners 6 and 6g.

The cover 7 is generally rectangular, rim-like, comprising a base strip 7a, rising upwardly from the base 7a are wedged-shaped side walls 7b and 70 which increase in width rearwardly toward their top where they are spanned by an arcuate rearwardly overhanging roof member 7d.

Into the opening 8, of the cover 7, is fitted and bonded thereto, or secured in any other suitable manner, a transparent crystal 9, which is contoured to conform with the inside of the cover 7. The crystal 9 has inwardly turned sides 9a, which form a peripheral shoulder part 9b, an opaque dial 10 is inserted from the rear to fit tightly into the opening 8 of the cover 7, and brought to bear against the shoulder part 9b of the crystal 9. V

The dial 10 is a generally rectangular thin-disc, of some form of opaque plastic insulating material, having an arcuate crown 10a to conform with the inside of the opening 8 of the cover 7, and has a rectangular central opening 11, into which project radially, circumferentially-spaced, opaque time markers 12, and aligned therewith are time indicating numerals of contrasting color being uniformly disposed upon the flat-surface 10b of the dial 10. I

The clock case is provided with a novel fastener which has the dual function of securing the cover 7 to the housing 6, and to secure the electroluminescent cell within the case, the purpose for such will become apparent in the continuing description.

The fastener comprises a tongue 13, having a rectangular aperture 14, which protrudes forwardly from the roof member 6a of the housing 6, and a tooth which depends from the roof member 7d into the opening 8 of the cover 7. The tongue 13 and the tooth 15 are integral, respectively, with the housing 6 and the cover 7, upon being brought together, the tooth 15 having an alignment bevel part 15a, being of compatible fit, is inserted into the aperture 14 to latch onto the tongue 13. In the claims the term fastener will denote the foregoing definition.

The clock case is further secured together near the base, a threaded aperture 16 in the housing 6, is in register with an aperture 17 in the cover 7, a screw 18 passing through the aperture 17 is tightened in the threaded aperture 16. 7 Within the case is a clock mechanism 20 (shown as a unit), which can be mechanically or electrically powered, is afiixed to the rear wall 6b which is provided with bosses 21 and 21a of unequal length which serve to vertically align said clock mechanism and screws 22 and 22a passing through apertures 23 and 23a which are in register with threaded apertures, (not shown), in the clock mechanism 20 and tightened therein.

A time-set stem 24 extends from the rear of the clock mechanism 20, through an aperture 24a in the rear wall 6b of the housing 6, and extending forwardly from the clock mechanism 20 is an hour arbor 25 and a minute arbor 26 having affixed on their outer ends, respectively, an hour hand 27 and a minute hand 28; the hour arbor 25 having about its periphery an insulating bushing 29.

An electroluminescent cell 30 is provided with a central opening 31, and a resilient, U-shaped, electrical contact 32 contacting the front phosphor-surface 33, is bent back upon itself against the back metal-plate 34 and insulated therefrom by an insulating strip 35.

' The electroluminescent call 30 serves as a night light and the source of background light to illuminate the dial 10.

To facilitate the removal and replacement of the electroluminescent call 30 a novel holder is provided. The holder comprises lateral plates 36 and 37 which are integral, respectively, with the side walls 6c and 6d of the housing 6, a base part 38 integral with the housing base 6a, and the tongue 13 of the housing roof member 6e; rearwardly of the base part 38 and integral therewith rises a step 39 having rectangular apertures 40 and 40a through which are inserted resilient electrical contact prongs, respectively, 41 and 41a their protruding ends being provided with barbs 42 to limit movement and apertures 43 for afiixing .a line cord thereto (not shown), which would be connected to a suitable alternating current source. In the claims the term holder will denote the foregoing definition.

In practice, to insert the electroluminescent cell 30 into the holder, the clock hands 27 and 28 are first brought together at 12 oclock position (note FIGURE 4), the face of the electroluminescent cell 30 lying in a horizontal plane is brought down through the opening 31 over the top of the clock hands and swung beneath their heels 27a, 28a and disposed coaxially on the hour and minute arbors, respectively, 25 and 26 and firmly seated horizontally between the lateral plates 36 and 37 being flush, respectively, with their front surfaces 36a and 37a, and vertically between the base part 38 and the tongue 13.

The electroluminescent cell 30 is energized upon being seated in the holder, whereby, the electrical contact 32 and the metal back-plate 34 bear, respectively, against the electrical contact prongs 41 and 41a of the step 39.

Snap-in grooves may be provided in the base 38 of the holder as shown by the broken lines at 44 and beneath the tongue 13 shown at 44a (note FIGURE 4), and can 4 also be provided in the lateral plates 36 and 37. A plastic electroluminescent cell would snap into place in said grooves, however, for a non-flexible type a peripheral resilient band would be provided.

In the process of closing the clock case the fastener here serves its second function, that of securing the electroluminescent cell 30 within the holder, whereby, the dial 10 Within the cover 7 is brought to bear against the electroluminescent cell,3tl, the tooth 15 latches into the opening 14 of the tongue 13, the flat surface part 15b of the tooth 15 drops behind the metal back-plate 34 of the electroluminescent cell 30 to limit rearward movement thereof, conversely, upon unlatching, the fastener releases the electroluminescent cell 30.

In the claims the term fastener when used in conjunction with the electroluminescent cell will denote the foregoing definition.

While I have described a clock utilizing an electroluminescent cell which is eflicient and economical, further benefits can be obtained from the electroluminescent cells illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7, which have a novel centrally disposed grommet having a plug-in prong such as that used in conventional plug-in devices but which can have some other form of conventional plug-in prong.

Referring first to FIGURE 6, the modified elect-roluminescent cell generally indicated at 45, comprises a phosphor-surface 46 and a metal back-plate 47 which has a circular opening 48 into which is inserted from the rear an insulating bushing 49 having a wide flat flange 49a, through the insulating bushing 49 is inserted from the front, a unitary metal grommet 50 having a cylindrical sleeve 51, at one end thereof, is a circular flat-flange 52 which electrically contacts the phosphor-surface 46, the other end is tightly flared against the insulating flange 49a by a flare 51a, integral therewith, is a plug-in prong 53 having an angularly bent stem 54 so as to radially offset the prong 53 from the grommet 50.

Referring now to FIGURE 7, shown here is another variation of an electraluminescent cell generally indicated at 55, comprising a front phosphor-surface 56 on which are printed or adhered opaque time markers, and a metal back-plate 57 having an elongated central opening 58 into which is inserted from the rear an insulating bushing 59 having a wide-flat-circular flange 590, through the insulating bushing 59 is inserted from the front a metal grommet 60 which is further modified from that shown in FIGURE 6, comprising a peripherally elongated sleeve 61, at one end thereof is a flat-circular flange 62 which electrically contacts the front phosphor-surface 56, the other end is tightly flared against the insulating bushing flange 59a by a flare 61a, and protruding rearwardly from the sleeve 61, integral therewith, is a plug-in prong 63.

The electroluminescent cells shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 can be adapted to serve in the clock described in the foregoing specification, simply by removing the plug-in prongs; one of the contact prongs 41 or 41a in the step 39 of the holder would be extended to make contact directly with the grommet. An alternative would be to extend the stem part 54 of the grommet 50, shown in FIGURE 6, to contact one of the contact prongs 41 or 41a of the holder, to complete the circuit.

The advantage of utilizing a centrally disposed grommet in an electroluminescent cell is that electrical contact area of the phosphor-surface can be increased to effect a more uniformly distributed current; also the grommet oifers a sturdy support for the plug-in prong and with an additional prong aflixed to the metal back-plate the entire electroluminescent ce'll would be a self supporting plugin device. The step 39 of the holder can be raised and provided with receptacle contacts within apertures whose orifices would be made extra long vertically to permit the plug-in prongs to tilt therein.

The advantage of a vertically elongated opening in the grommet 60 is that it permits the electroluminescent cell a greater backward tilt than a circular opening permitting a smaller overall diameter of the circular flange 62. is the economy of combining a night light with a clock.

An important aspect of the invention to be considered While specific forms of the invention have been described for the purpose of illustration, it is contemplated that numerous changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a clock, a case comprising a housing and a cover having a transparent front part, a clock mechanism affixed in said housing, a minute and hour arbor extending from said clock mechanism, a pair of time indicating hands afiixed at one end of said minute and hour arbors respectively, an electroluminescent cell having a central opening is 'aflixed in said housing and being coaxially disposed on said minute and hour arbors between said clock mechanism and said time indicating hands, opaque time markers and said time indicating hands being disposed so as to be viewed against the background light of said electroluminescent cell, and electrical energizing means being provided.

2. In a clock as claimed in claim 1, said opaque time markers comprising a dial with a central opening into which project, circumferentially-spaced, radial projections and aligned therewith are time-numerals disposed on the front surface of said dial, said dial being disposed adjacent of the phosphor-surface of said electroluminescent cell.

3. In a clock as claimed in claim I, said central ope11- ing of said electroluminescent cell having a grommet disposed therein and electrically contacting the front phosphor-surface of said electroluminescent cell.

4%. In a clock, a case comprising a housing and a cover having a transparent front part, a clock mechanism affixed in said housing having a minute and hour arbor extending from said clock mechanism, a pair of time indicating hands affixed at one end of said minute and hour arbors respectively, an electroluminescent cell having a central opening is aifixed in said housing and being coaxially disposed on said minute and hour arbors between said clock mechanism and said time indicating hands, opaque time markers and said time indicating hands being disposed so as to be viewed against the background light of said electroluminescent cell, said clock mechanism being set-back to permit said electroluminescent cell to be inserted or removed past said time indicating hands via said central opening, and electrical energizing means being provided therefor.

5. In a clock, a case comprising a housing and a cover having a transparent front part, a clock mechanism afiixed in said housing having a minute and hour arbor extending from said clock mechanism, a pair of time indicating hands aflixed at one end of said minute and hour arbors respectively, an electroluminescent cell having a central opening is coaxially disposed on said minute and hour arbors between said clock mechanism and said time indicating hands, said electroluminescent cell being seated in a holder and secured therein by a fastener which also serves to latch said housing and cover together, opaque time markers and said time indicating hands being disposed so as to be viewed against the background light of said electroluminescent cell, said clock mechanism being set-back to permit said electroluminescent cell to be inserted or removed past said time indicating hands via said central opening, and electrical energizing means being provided therefor.

6. In a clock as claimed in claim 5, said opaque time markers comprising a dial with a central opening into which project, circumferentially-spaced, radial projections and aligned therewith are time-numerals disposed on the front surface of said dial, said dial being disposed adjacent of the phosphor-surface of said electroluminescent cell.

7. In a clock, a case comprising a housing and a cover having a transparent front part, a clock mechanism afiixed in said housing, a minute and hour arbor extending from said clock mechanism, a pair of time indicating hands aifixed at one end of said minute and hour arbors respectively, an electroluminescent cell having a central opening is affixed in said housing and being coaxially disposed on said minute and hour arbors between said time indicating hands and said clock mechanism, opaque time markers comprising a dial with a central opening into which project, circumferentially-spaced, radial projections and aligned therewith are time-numerals disposed on the front surface of said dial, said dial being disposed adjacent of the phosphor-surface of said electroluminescent cell so as to be viewed against its background light, and said central opening of said electroluminescent cell having a grommet disposed therein and electrically contacting the phosphor-surface of said electroluminescent cell for which electrical energizing means are provided.

8. In a clock as claimed in claim '7, said central opening of said electroluminescent cell having a grommet aifixed therein, said grommet having a front circularflange and a rearwardly protruding axially-offset plug-in prong, said circular-flange electrically contacting the phosphor-surface of said electroluminescent cell.

9. In a clock, a case comprising a housing and a cover having a transparent front part, a clock mechanism afiixed in said housing, a minute and hour arbor extending from said clock mechanism, a pair of time indicating hands afifixed at one end of said minute and hour arbors respectively, an electroluminescent element having a central opening is afiixed in said housing and being coaxially disposed on said minute and hour arbors between said clock mechanism and said time indicating hands which are viewed silhouetted against the background light of said electroluminescent element, and electrical energizing means being provided therefor.

16. In a clock as claimed in claim 9, said clock mechanism being set-back to permit said electroluminescent element to be inserted or removed past said time indicating hands.

11. In a clock as claimed in claim 9, said central opening of said electroluminescent element having a grommet afiixed therein, said grommet having a circular-flange and an elongated central opening, said circular-flange electrically contacting the phosphor surface of said electroluminescent element, and said grommet having a rearwardly protruding plug-in prong.

No references cited.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A CLOCK, A CASE COMPRISING A HOUSING AND A COVER HAVING A TRANSPARENT FRONT PART, A CLOCK MECHANISM AFFIXED IN SAID HOUSING, A MINUTE AND HOUR ARBOR EXTENDING FROM SAID CLOCK MECHANISM, A PAIR OF TIME INDICATING HANDS AFFIXED AT ONE END OF SAID MINUTE AND HOUR ARBORS RESPECTIVELY, AN ELECTROLUMINESCENT CELL HAVING A CENTRAL OPENING IS AFFIXED IN SAID HOUSING AND BEING COAXIALLY DISPOSED ON SAID MINUTE AND HOUR ARBORS BETWEEN SAID CLOCK MECHANISM AND SAID TIME INDICATING HANDS, OPAQUE TIME MARKERS AND SAID TIME INDICATING HANDS BEING DISPOSED SO AS TO BE VIEWED AGAINST THE BACKGROUND LIGHT OF SAID ELECTROLUMINESCENT CELL, AND ELECTRICAL ENERGIZING MEANS BEING PROVIDED. 